Possible human remains found at property of missing couple

Thursday

"Investigators are in the process of recovering the remains and will then begin the identification process," according to Sheriff's Office.

Marion County sheriff's deputies have found what they are calling "possible human remains" at a home near Dunnellon where a married couple has been reported missing.

A family member reported Layton Underwood, 75, and Donna Underwood, 69, missing on Sunday, according to a Marion County Sheriff's Office news release. The caller had not been able to reach them and wanted assistance.

Deputies did not find them in their home, at 18760 SW 47th St. in the Lake Tropicana subdivision. However, they did find what they are calling "possible human remains" on the property. They are not releasing where on the property the remains were found.

Sheriff's Office investigators and officials with the Medical Examiner's Office and the University of Florida's C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory were "conducting an in-depth investigation on the property," according to the news release. Investigators on Thursday said the remains are being exhumed. They have been working the scene since Tuesday.

"Investigators are in the process of recovering the remains and will then begin the identification process," officials noted in the release.

Investigators did obtain a search warrant for the inside of the home. They will not say what, if anything, has been recovered.

Detectives are looking for the couple's car, a white 2014 VW Passat S with Florida tag GXRD85. They believe Allyn Shane Gilbert, 53 — a relative of the missing couple who also lives at the home — may be driving the car. Detectives wish to interview him.

Gilbert and the Underwoods are listed as missing and endangered. Investigators said Gilbert has not been seen since Dec. 27, but he has spoken to relatives over the phone since then.

Lisa Lessor, who lives near the location, said she heard a gunshot over the weekend but does not know if it came from the area where detectives are searching for clues. She said three weeks earlier, she heard noises coming from the area but did not see what was going on.

Lessor said her dog has gone on the property where the remains were found and keeps sniffing in the backyard.

“It makes me nervous,” she said.

Another person who lives nearby, Paul Burofsky, said deputies were searching the area and came close to his home, however they did not question him.

He, too, is worried.

“This is upsetting. I don’t want to see this type of thing in my neighborhood,” he said.

Anyone with any information about this case can call Detective Aaron Levy at 368-3546 or Crime Stoppers at 368-7867 or visit www.ocalacrimestoppers.com.

If investigators determine the remains are human, this will be is the second time deputies have found human remains in the county within two months.

Last month, deputies were called to a wooded area in the 5300 block of Northwest 17th Street in the Ocala Ridge subdivision where they found the remains of Melvin Thompkins, 63.

Detectives said Thompkins' death is suspicious and the investigation is ongoing. The deaths are not related, according to the Sheriff's Office.